Abstract
It is well known that the reaction of N,N-diemthylformamide (DMF) with water at boiling temperature leads to an in-situ generation of hydrogen gas. Reduction of sulphur by thus generated hydrogen and its subsequent reaction with respective metal salts yielded gray-black powder, which upon analysis revealed formation of copper indium sulphide (CIS) in a single step reaction. A similar reaction of metal salts and elemental sulphur in the presence of an external reducing agent, i.e. sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate (SFS), also produced a black powder of CIS. However, use of indium metal with copper metal salt yielded only copper sulphide. The black powders were analyzed by XRD measurement. In XRD pattern, relevant Bragg's reflection for CIS were observed but not without the impurities. The impurities can be minimized by treating the black powder with dilute hydrochloric acid. Absorption spectroscopy indicated an increase in band gap energy to the tune of about 0.5eV for as-prepared CIS powder. SEM analysis showed agglomerated morphology and EDAX analysis indicated non-stoichiometric composition between Cu, In and S.
Published Version
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